NEWS

April 2013 Fuel Cells Bulletin9

FCH JU page on SWARM project: http://tinyurl.com/fch-swarm

Riversimple: www.riversimple.com

H2O Emobile GmbH: www.elano-mobile.de

Coventry University Enterprises: www.coventry.ac.uk/business/supporting-your-business

Belgium, Netherlands, Germany agree cross-border hydrogen pact

WaterstofNet – a cross-border hydrogen initiative between the

regions of Flanders in Belgium and the southern Netherlands – has agreed on close cooperation with HyCologne, the Rhineland region hydrogen cluster, to develop future markets for hydrogen and harness the complete hydrogen value chain.

This joint operation will see the hydrogen promoting regional initiatives in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany strengthen their position on a European level. The agreement on the shared goals of the initiatives was signed by WaterstofNet director Adwin Martens and HyCologne chairman Dr Albrecht Möllmann on behalf of their respective member initiatives.

HyCologne [FCB, October 2011, p3] and WaterstofNet [FCB, February 2012, p6] regard hydrogen as an important energy carrier for the future. In their role as representatives of their respective hydrogen regions, they understand the necessity of cooperating on a transnational level to reach their individual targets faster and more economically.

In addition to large-scale pilot projects, specific applications will be implemented that use hydrogen as an energy carrier for commercial markets in logistics, long-distance transport, and maritime technologies. The critical basis for this development is the establishment and expansion of a multinational network of hydrogen fuelling stations.

The members of both initiatives are active in the key technologies of the hydrogen use value chain, including the chemical industry with its output of by-product hydrogen, hydrogen production through electrolysis, the development and production of fuel cell stacks plus a variety of system developers, hydrogen fuelling station providers, hydrogen bus manufacturers, interested municipalities, and end-users.

The next steps for WaterstofNet and HyCologne centre on the further development of the grid system and an effective exchange of real-world experiences, and an action plan for an infrastructure promotion agreement will be

developed. The regions will also jointly take part in European tender procedures and projects.

WaterstofNet: www.waterstofnet.eu/english.html

HyCologne: www.hycologne.de (in German)

ITM Power unit for German Power-to-Gas plant, first Russia sale

UK-based ITM Power has won a competitive tender process to

supply a 360 kW Power-to-Gas energy storage plant for a project with the Thüga Group in Germany. ITM has also made its first sale in Russia, of an HPac electrolyser. These new orders follow the company’s recent first HPac sale in Japan [FCB, March 2013, p11].

The Thüga order is ITM Power’s first major commercial sale in Germany of a large hydrogen production unit based on its unique design of a self-pressurising, rapid-response PEM electrolyser. The unit – which incorporates AEG power electronics – produces 125 kg/day of hydrogen. It will be situated at a Mainova heating plant in the Schielestrasse area of Frankfurt. The operational data will be shared by the whole Thüga group – the largest network of energy companies in Germany, with around 100 municipal utility members.

The project partners include badenova, Erdgas Mittelsachsen, Energieversorgung Mittelrhein, erdgas schwaben, Gasversorgung Westerwald, Mainova, Stadtwerke Ansbach, Stadtwerke Bad Hersfeld, Thüga Energienetze, WEMAG, e-rp GmbH, and ESWE Versorgungs, with Thüga as project coordinator. Scientific partners will participate in the operational phase.

Power-to-Gas energy storage is rapidly growing in significance in Germany [e.g. Hydrogenics in FCB, January 2013, p7], particularly after the government’s decision to pull out of nuclear power generation. The Thüga deployment is the largest PEM electrolyser to date in a Power-to-Gas application. PEM electrolysers can respond rapidly to fluctuating renewable inputs, and so are able to store renewable energy as hydrogen for injection into the gas grid [FCB, September 2012, p8]. The ITM Power technology can respond in 1 s and is self-pressurising up to 80 bar (1160 psi), permitting direct injection into the German gas grid.

‘We have calculated that the municipal natural gas network is capable of storing all future generated excess renewable energy. In order to transform green electricity into

hydrogen or methane, we need an economic best practice,’ says Michael Riechel, CTO of Thüga. ‘It is important for the advancement of Power-to-Gas technology to make the transition from lab to practical demonstration. We believe that the natural gas distribution system could be the battery of the future, and we are now building the charger.’

Meanwhile, ITM Power has sold the first reference plant based on the HPac platform to a company in Russia, which at this stage wishes to remain anonymous. ‘Russia is a fast growing energy market that is beginning to look more seriously at the renewable space,’ says Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power, which plans to market its products more actively in Russia.

ITM Power, Sheffield, UK. Tel: +44 114 244 5111, www.itm-power.com

Thüga Group: www.thuega.de (in German)

ClearEdge cuts staff as focuses on stationary, wins new funding

In the US, ClearEdge Power has laid off some 39% of the staff at its facilities

in Oregon and California and at its recently acquired UTC Power subsidiary in Connecticut, as it rationalises its combined operations and concentrates on the stationary fuel cell sector. ClearEdge has also separately raised $36 million in equity financing.

The UTC Power acquisition expanded ClearEdge’s reach in the fuel cell market, including residential and small business units, larger industrial and power grid units, and a transportation division [FCB, March 2013, p8]. The staff cuts are part of a company refocus away from fuel cells in vehicles, to concentrate on stationary fuel cells.

To this end, UTC Power has ended its contract to lease fuel cell powered buses to Connecticut Transit, which is required to return the two fuel cell buses it has on lease. CTTransit has subsequently partnered with the Center for Transportation and the Environment and Ballard Power Systems, as part of a $4.3 million project to bring a new fuel cell bus to Hartford by 2015 [see page 3].

Local media in Connecticut reported that the staff cuts disproportionately hit the South Windsor site, with about half of its 300 salaried and hourly paid employees laid off. Most of ClearEdge’s transportation fuel cell activities – i.e. UTC Power, whose acquisition was recently

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